The Hautes-Pyrénées is the department of peaks and sanctuaries, a high-mountain region where the peaks rise above 3,000 metres and where Lourdes welcomes millions of pilgrims from all over the world every year. Amidst the ski resorts, the thermal spas of the spa towns and the Pyrenean mountain passes, the castle heritage is set against landscapes of majestic beauty.
Lourdes, whose fortified castle overlooks the town from its rocky outcrop, is home to the Pyrenean Museum with its collections dedicated to mountain life and the traditions of the Pyrenees. Mauvezin Castle, a medieval fortress perched on its limestone outcrop overlooking the Bagnères basin, Montaner, a 14th-century Gascon castle built by Gaston Fébus, Count of Foix and Prince of Béarn, bear witness to the turbulent history of these lands contested between France, Aragon and Béarn.
The spa towns — Luchon, Cauterets, Barèges — attracted an aristocratic and bourgeois clientele in the 19th century, who built lavish villas and a number of holiday homes there, adding a Belle Époque dimension to the architectural heritage of the Hautes-Pyrénées.